Comments about ‘Michael Gerson: GOP must decide whether immigrants are threats or advantages’

Most American citizens approve of immigration. In fact we applaud those who
apply for entry and come here through our legal process. We are especially proud
of those who use our path to citizenship to become citizens also. What we
don't approve of is people who bypass the immigration laws by overstaying
visas and sneaking across our borders without permission. No matter what words
you use to describe these people the facts remain that they have ignored our
laws and broken them. It would send the wrong message if we were to create a new
and easier path to citizenship as a reward for breaking our laws. They need to
return to their homeland and apply there for legal entry. Then wait patiently
behind those already in front of them for their opportunity to come here.

It's hard to figure what King said that was so offensive. We know people
are bringing drugs across, and many times they use the parents and older
children, not just the parents. Multiple trips would build up muscles. Mexico is
the "fattest" nation in the world, it use to be the US, and everyone
made jokes, what's changed.

Comming here illegally does not
make someone an immigrant, immigrants come with permission of the government.
Hispanic's have never given a majority to the Republicans for the
Presidency(Bush received 40% that's the highest, after Reagans amnesty they
still voted Democrat), they like the entitlements to much.

So why
should the Republicans give the Democrats 46 million new voters through
amnesty?

Let's enforce the laws and prove to the American public
that this will not happen again. How many Democrats in red states will lose
their seats by giving amnesty for the EIGHTH time.

The answer to the benefit or threat question of illegal immigrants is, Both.
Many if not most are merely trying to work to live. However, the crime problem
the same group brings is also a blight to Americans. It's not just the
border violence, but every school in America that has a drug problem likely can
trace those drugs back to the southern border. That was the point Rep. King was
trying to make, and from what I can tell, unless border enforcement comes first,
no immigration bill will solve the crime problem of illegal immigration.
Legalize all you want, but the drug lords are not going to stop doing business
in America. That's the major problem with our unsecured border.

Most dream act kids are not engaged in drug or gang activiity and King shows his
ignorance to who these kids are. If they were to walk down the street you could
not tell them apart from other American kids. They are in our schools and most
of them identify as Americans. I used to be against the dream act until I met
the kids and most of them seem to be good kids who are trying to do the right
thing in a bad situation. Most of them don't have much to look forward to
after they graduate and its caused an alarming rise in teen and single mother
pregnancy. which does lead to gang problems in young adults.

Rep King
is trying to lay blame on individuals that have not committed a crime against
our immigration system and he is trying to punish them in a very cruel manner.
I don't even think he has a solution for fixing the problem because all of
his proposals would never work.

The only reason they will vote democrat is because some republican politicians
refuse to go into there communities and actually try and talk to the groups
there. Democrats do go into their communities and they listen to them and
develop relationships that are more than just a transactional event.

Also the conservatives constent drum of ignorant comments about hispanics is
causing most hispanics to turn to the democrats. Florida is a great example
where Republicans used to get most hispanic votes there and now they
don't.

Politics is personal and if people think that you hate
them (whether its true or not) they wont support you on election day.

The Dream act kids can go home at 18 and come back legally on a student visa,
they are moved to the front of the line. But their lack of responsibility makes
them just as illegal here as their parents. It's a ruse, once citizens they
can sponsor their parents for citizenship. Then their brothers and sisters,
their spouses and children etc.

From the Washington postThe union that represents the people who would
have to decide who gets legalized under any new immigration law said in a letter
Tuesday that the Obama administration is not ready to handle the influx of
applications.

And Kenneth Palinkas, the president of the Citizenship
and Immigration Services Council, which represents the 12,000 immigration
officers and staff who work at USCIS, warned House Republicans that even
flirting with a limited legalization such as just granting citizenship rights to
so-called Dream Act immigrants could lead to problems

Okay here's a tip, if you actually want to win the Hispanic vote,
don't think of them as lazy moochers, particularly when a lot of them make
low wages doing jobs white Americans don't seem to apply for (just as
Georgian orchards).

What I don't get is why are we rewarding law breakers with amnesty? There
are 4 million who are on our immigration roles who are seeking a better life in
the USA who have followed the law and some of those people have been waiting for
30 years! Why are we telling these people to be patient while we are rewarding
law breakers? This is not because democrats are compassionate, its because the
democrats see them as future voters! We have 20 million unemployed who
don't have jobs that want to work, why are they being marginalized for
cheaper labor? So much for American exceptionalism!

Like many other amnesty advocates the author fails to make the distinction
between "legal" or "illegal" immigrants.

Kind of like
when a store says "we want ALL shoppers, just not the shoplifters".
That seems to be their policy, WHY can't it be ours?

Americans
are getting quite tired of excuses. Why write a "new" law? Why not
just enforce the existing law? Unless, of course the amnesty advocates want to
enable lawbreaking, and make excuses for it!

The ONLY thing wrong
with the existing law is that it doesn't get enforced. With Congress'
approval rating at an all time low, WHY should we believe anything they tell us
with regards to border enforcement or immigration enforcement in general?

This issue draws so many comments about the illegality involved in the
immigration without confronting those who really made the illegal money on the
backs of illegal immigrants--the employers.

We criticize those who
took jobs in the U.S. but not the contractors, farmers, and maid services who
have, and continue to, take advantage of this subclass of society. They came
here at the request of employers to build our cities, farms, and highways and
yet we decry them as outlaws.

If we are going to deport, tax, and
harass everyone equally, maybe we should consider those employers who made bank
and not those who walked the banks of the Rio Grande looking for a better way of
life. It's kind of like the Utah pioneers who illegally moved to Mexican
territory to avoid persecution and find a better way of life. Yeah, kinda like
that.

I guess the ones that join gangs and kill people are sort of threats - the rest
are ok. From the Democrat party prospective - ALL immigrants are important
regardless of the crime they bring because they are votes in the elections for
the Democrats. Of course I'm talking bout the ones sneaking across the
border from Mexico.

From the rhetoric I've seen online, on the news, and through the newspaper,
the GOP has already made up its mind that immigrants are a threat. Unless
foxnews, am radio, and conservative websites aren't considered mouthpieces
of the GOP.

"Dragline" Most conservatives WANT employers to be busted. The big
argument you hear (at least on the national level)is to build all sorts of
fences, and spend billions on enforcement that may (or likely may not) ever
occur. These arguments are largely fueled by RINO's who are raking in BIG
campaign bribes......er "donations" from illegal/unethical
businesspersons who employ illegal trespassers.

Unethical
businesspersons (including high-tech employers)have discovered its MUCH cheaper
to make a "donation" to their representatives than actually pay a decent
wage.

Yes, you're absolutely right, it is MUCH cheaper to
enforce immigration laws via employers than trying to track down all the illegal
employees.

All ICE would have to do is raid a few work sites and
actually arrest a few employers. Then publicize the raids as much as possible.
Illegal immigration would probably be stopped somewhere between 80-90%.

BTW - amnesty is included in the Senate bill for employers also. Not
that any of them have ever had much to be concerned about.

Its
especially disheartening to hear a democratic President talk about jobs for
illegal trespassers. I had always thought the democratic party worked for the
betterment of working Americans.

The headline for Michael Gerson's piece reads, "GOP must decide whether
immigrants are threats or advantages".

Whenever you read
something about the "immigration" debate that doesn't include the
word "illegal", you can be assured it is dishonest.

The
overwhelming issue with regards to the matter of immigration reform has to do
with the decades-old problem of rampant **illegal** immigration.

The
fact that there are other aspects of immigration policy that could also benefit
from a thorough examination and overhaul is a smoke screen behind which people
who care little about the problem of **illegal** immigration.

Who,
more likely, are only too happy to see a continuation of the loose application
of even current laws that have allowed, if not encouraged, the ridiculous levels
of **illegal** immigration that has plagued the country for far too long.